Judith McGeary says federal rules are squeezing small Texas farmers, and she’s urging Congress to act.
At a gathering of small producers in San Marcos on August 4, Judith McGeary of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) called on Congress to pass a slate of bills she says would reduce regulatory burdens and restore fairness to meat processing and agricultural marketing systems across the country.
McGeary, a Texas attorney, livestock farmer, and longtime activist, said farmers face growing obstacles to legally selling meat—especially in Texas, where small-scale slaughterhouse capacity remains limited.
“Meat processing is one of the biggest issues that our farmers face,” McGeary told The Dallas Express during the Southern Family Farmers and Food Systems Conference, which FARFA co-hosted with the Small Producers Initiative at Texas State University.
FARFA is backing three federal bills: the PRIME Act, the Local Foods Act, and the OFF Act—all aimed at helping small-scale farmers and ranchers compete in a consolidated marketplace.
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PRIME Act: would allow states to legalize intrastate sales of custom-slaughtered meat, bypassing some USDA facility requirements.
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Local Foods Act: seeks to clarify and protect on-farm butchering rights for consumers who purchase shares of live animals.
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OFF Act: would increase transparency and limit conflicts of interest in mandatory checkoff programs that fund national marketing campaigns.
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McGeary, FARFA’s executive director, says current laws favor large meatpackers and saddle small operations with burdensome regulations. However, according to McGeary, two bills pending in Congress could change that: the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act and the Local Foods Act.
The PRIME Act, backed by a bipartisan coalition in both chambers, would allow states to legalize the sale of custom-slaughtered meat within their borders. Under current law, most meat intended for sale must be processed in USDA-inspected or state-inspected facilities. These are often located hours away, forcing small farmers to pay high transportation costs or risk mixing their locally raised products with mass-market meats, McGeary explains.
A previous report from Feedstuffs notes that “custom-slaughtered meats are inspected annually but are exempt from federal inspection regulations if the meat is for private use,” and that the PRIME Act would give states the flexibility to regulate such sales to consumers, restaurants, and grocery stores inside their own borders.
However, support for the bill is not unanimous across all cattle-connected organizations.
“NCBA is in favor of reducing regulatory burdens, but not at the expense of food safety,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Todd Wilkinson, a South Dakota cattle producer, in a recent press release. “While the PRIME Act is well intentioned, allowing uninspected beef to enter the retail market is dangerous to consumers.”
McGeary said the bill recognizes that existing “custom exempt” processors already serve hunters and homesteaders without widespread safety issues. “These are incredibly safe,” she said. “They’re regulated, they’re inspected, but… at a different level.”
The second bill, the Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local (LOCAL) Foods Act, aims to clarify federal rules around on-farm butchering when consumers purchase a “share” of a live animal, an increasingly popular approach for families seeking grass-fed or pasture-raised meat. McGeary says the USDA’s shifting guidance has left these arrangements in a gray area.
“I want to go buy half a cow to put the meat in my freezer for my family’s use,” McGeary said. “There are a lot of people that want to do this… and right now that’s a gray area.”
Critics argue that scaling back regulations could endanger food safety, but McGeary said the risk is overblown and consumers should be free to choose. “If that’s how you feel, then don’t do it,” she said. “People have been doing this forever.”
She argued that large meatpackers benefit from federal rules, which apply uniformly whether a processor handles “300 cows an hour” or “20 to 50 a week,” making compliance far more expensive for small-scale operations.
Beyond processing, McGeary is also urging Congress to pass the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, a bipartisan reform of the federally mandated “checkoff” program, industry marketing funds collected from farmers without their consent.
Checkoff programs are behind well-known campaigns like “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner,” but McGeary said those slogans don’t benefit local producers. “It doesn’t even promote buying American. It certainly doesn’t promote buying grass-fed,” she said. “It’s purely a commodity, which actually works against local grass-fed producers.”
She also criticized the flow of checkoff dollars to private nonprofits that, while technically barred from lobbying with the funds, can still use them to support their operating budgets, which can, in effect, support staff who may lobby against reforms sought by small farmers.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who reintroduced the OFF Act in May with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), said in a statement that the bill would bring “accountability and transparency” to a system that has faced repeated allegations of fraud and misuse.
“Checkoff dollars too often get channeled to lobbying groups who advocate against the best interests of many of the farmers who are required to pay into the program,” Booker said. The OFF Act would require audits, public budgets, and ban conflicts of interest among checkoff board members, according to a Booker press release.
McGeary said the reforms are long overdue. “If we’re going to have the checkoff, let’s have transparency and accountability,” she stressed. “Their books need to be wide open.”
The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association opposes the OFF Act.
“The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association is opposed to the bill. When the Humane Society of the United States, an extreme animal rights organization that fights against animal agriculture at every corner, is championing the legislation, it leaves little question that this is poor public policy designed to impair, not support, the hardworking cattle ranching families across the country. I see it as a thinly veiled attempt by opponents of animal ag to eliminate the checkoffs we use to promote our products,” Jason Leiseth, president of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association, said, per Tri-State Livestock News.
The legislative push comes as FARFA continues its broader mission of advocating for local, diversified agriculture. The group, which does not accept funds from agribusiness corporations, describes itself as a grassroots effort to “support independent family farmers and protect a healthy and productive food supply for American consumers,” according to FARFA’s website.
McGeary said small farmers want the freedom to compete. “Let people make a choice which option they want,” she said.